After raising three children and watching them graduate from college, Bob and Carol decided to leave the educational field and pursue a dream that had been put on hold for 35 years (since graduationg from the University of Northern Iowa). "Two in Thailand" is the journal dedicated to that dream - to serve in the Peace Corps. This is a personal blog. The opinions expressed within do not necessarily represent the views of the Peace Corps or the United States Government.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

I Can See Clearly Now

Bob often commented that no students wear glasses in his two schools or in Carol's schools. At first, he thought it was a genetic or cultural difference. However, he noticed that when he was in Bangkok, many students wore glasses. He eventually realized that students in our villages are too poor to buy glasses. Although the government contracts with optometrists to provide an eye exam and a pair of glasses for 1,000 baht ($30), the families still cannot afford eyeglasses. Bob applied for a grant and was awarded enough money to supply 20 students with eyeglasses. The students were loaded into the back of pickup trucks and driven one hour to the "city". The teachers and principals came along to provide transportation and to witness the event. At first, Bob thought that the students would be too shy to wear the glasses, but the very next day he saw students wearing their new glasses on campus. We are sure that this was only the "tip of the iceberg" since it only represented 1% of the entire school populations, but it was a beginning! Bob invites anyone "with connections" to solicit funds so another 20 students can benefit from the gift of sight. We also need to realize, that eventually the eyeglasses will have to be replaced.